Tag: austin

I thought about naming this blog post “Keeping it Crafty During COVID19” but honestly, I think I’m a little burnt out on seeing it COVID-19 in my newsfeed. While I’m fully aware that this won’t be over anytime soon, I’ve got my ways of coping that don’t involve being glued to a computer screen. For me, I do best when I stay busy.

I’m using this social distancing and self-isolation as a time to get work done, self reflect and really tackle that “someday I’ll do this” to-do list that I have been putting off for… forever.

This past weekend in the life of a crafter:

Organized my craft shelf

Prepped 20+ towels for embroidery

Revived the “Can’t Touch This” Cactus Pattern

Began embroidering a new patter: “The Lone Star State” Towel

Upcoming Projects:

Redoing taxes from previous years (yea, I know I’m torturing myself, but it’ll be worth it)

Somehow connecting with a few remaining Kickstarter Contributors that have not responded to any emails, updates, etc. to get them their incentives so I can sleep at night!

Other things I’ve been working on are making sure I keep my days are as structured as possible. For example, from 6 am to 7am, I enjoy my coffee, from 7-8 am I go for a walk and stretch, 9 am-3 PM it’s time for work. I’m also making it a goal to reach out to one person that I haven’t spoken to in a while and actually call them!

These next few weeks will certainly be different, but we will get through! Happy Self-Isolation, y’all!

I am one of those people that if I am not learning something new on a regular basis I begin to feel stagnant. I feel stuck. I then become frustrated. Usually, I don’t pay attention to the nagging in the back of my mind until it’s too late. The last few weeks I have been overwhelmed with lengthy to do lists, custom orders, and planning some big life changes (more to come soon). As I was rushing around yesterday, I had a iCalendar notification for an ice cream class that I had signed up for a month ago. Signing up for this event had completely escaped me. What a treat, an ice cream class in August! Well done! Thanks, past Me!

The co-owners of Lick Ice Cream partnered with Sustainable Food Center to host this class. What a great opportunity for such a great cause, for more on that click here. There was a demo and then we broke off into groups to create our own fig inspired ice cream! We were given a base, chocolate sauce, fig jam, and neufshatel (fancy cream cheese). I, clearly, fell into the right group when the decision that all of the ingredients would have to be used! We went with a chocolate and neufshatel base, with fig & chocolate swirls. Heaven! Due to the smokiness of the figs this year, it tasted like toasted marshmallow. As a serious s’mores fan, I was completely blissed out. In fact, I would have taken a picture of our batch, but…. we ate it all.

Who knew making ice cream was so easy. I was always under the impression it was much more difficult. I’m looking forward to testing out new recipes and maybe, potentially, incorporating some recipes into the upcoming cookbook!

With Spring comes glorious blue skies, the occasional rainstorms, blossoming flowers, bustling farmers markets, and of course, allergies, like woah. I’ve spent the last few days laid up in bed wishing I had the slightest urge to, at the very least, to work on some embroidery, but with a few attempts, I found it not possible. I’m starting to come around thanks to truckloads of Zyrtec.

Ok, now that my “wah” fest is over, I wanted to share some new items that I’ve completed since the last blog post. Most have been shared on instagram, but I’ve got a few that haven’t been yet. I’ve got new Easter themed embroidered wall art that I’m particularly pumped about. I haven’t done anything for Easter since my Grandmother passed away. She always had these gorgeous Easter baskets for us, we had egg hunts, and dying eggs! I guess I have been feeling slightly reminiscent. Below that, I’ve got a new veggie embroidered towel, a refinished chair, and my personal favorite, “I will resist.” wall art.

It’s true. Although, it’s not like I need to be the one to tell ya’ll that. I think a more specific statement that I am trying to make is… “Daaaaaamn, my friends are bad ass.”

Let me back up just a little bit. This past Friday, I met with my friend, Lisa. This girl takes the cake on just about everything: musician, networking, event planning, starting up her own venue, kicking off a new publication, and pedi-cabbing, just to name a few. After forty minutes of shooting the shit (as they say) we can put together an event with a side of fundraising in less than twenty minutes. (link is here) Feeling motivated from our pow-wow and my overwhelmingly successful craft fair on Saturday, I have been determined to continue with my own bad-assery. In fact, I am taking on a lot this week as I am excited to say that I have to restock my entire inventory before my next event, which brings me to….. details on that.

I will be one of the many female vendors participating in the Hysteria ‘Zine Release Party. What is Hysteria ‘Zine? Well, let me explain. Lisa, the rad friend I was telling you about, she has put together a publication, or in this case ‘zine, to provide a safe platform to present stories, art, articles, etc from a female perspective. The release party is going to be a huge event! Woman supporting one another, coming together to express themselves, their views, and share their work. Seriously, I can’t wait… but for now I’ll have to because I have to get back to crafting for the event!

Today the sun is shining and here I am, I’ve slept in and missed most of the day (in my defense, I was completely unable to sleep last night). My plan today was to have an admin day updating profiles, blog pages, Etsy shop, and email list. Not exactly what I want to be doing when the sun has come out in what seems like the first time in weeks!

While I may make a post to my blog during what remaining daylight there is, the rest of my computer work will have to wait until this evening. If you need me you can find me outside, with tea towels, embroidery floss, and a very large ice coffee soaking up all the Vitamin D I can. I just hope amongst hopes that the weather remains to stay nice during the madness of SXSW and next Saturdays Blue Bonnet Bazaar !

That’s right! I’ll be partaking in the second Bluebonnet Bazaar. While I won’t be feverishly blogging in the spirit of “12 Days of Crafting” like in December, I will be featuring an item or two before the event. So please, stay tuned, check in, etc. etc. etc.

The last few days of the first month of 2015 are rapidly approaching and I am thrilled with the amount of productivity that I have been able to maintain over these last few weeks. Today though, I woke up with an overwhelming sense of gratitude.

I never in my wildest dreams thought I wanted to play music. It just happened, but now, I realize that I couldn’t live without music. I love to write, sing, play, and perform. Like any field or art, there is constant room for improvement, growth, etc. Yes, I am sure, that like any field or art, there are many moments of self doubt. I feel as if I experience the later more than I should.

As an artist or a musician, each piece you create has a little bit of you in it. You offer that openly to the world for the taking, the critique, as well as the rejection. Sure, as an artist you should be able to remove yourself from that situation, but the reality is that you can’t. It is difficult not to be personally involved and even more so not to take the negative personally. I have tried very hard to avoid the negative. I find myself to be my harshest critic, therefore I am often hesitant to share my work, in this case my songs.

This month, I forced myself in a way that I have never done before to share my music. I submitted one of my songs to the Tiny Desk Concert Series Concert. Now, we will completely overlook my strong dislike for contests anyway, and embrace the notion that I took a huge step. I submitted my video to the NPR contest and was hesitant to let anyone else know that I had entered my video, but I overcame that too. Since I have let go of this fear of sharing my work out of receiving negative feedback, I have received anything but that! Nothing but good has come from it and it has proved to be a valuable lesson.

Now I have shared this video, the links and articles that it has been included in (by Ovrld and KUT Austin) all over Facebook but what I haven’t been able to mention, or at least communicate clearly enough is my overwhelming sense of gratitude to those that have liked, shared, and given me the support that I have needed! I have always felt has if I have never fit in here in the Austin music scene, this week has proven otherwise and has given me the momentum I need to keep propelling myself forward.

Thank you to the following folks for sharing links, tagging me in posts, etc. I couldn’t feel this way without you. (There are many, many more of you, but this is the beginning)

*NOTE*- I realize the winner’s of the Tiny Desk Concert Contest won’t be announced until the end of February and I most likely won’t be one of them, but for now, I am feeling like a winner! Thanks ya’ll! (Yes, so cheesey, I’m sorry)

The dust has settled and I am slowly cleaning up my apartment from the mania of 12 Days of Crafting and prepping and so on. I’m not going to lie, I had nightmares the entire week before that I wouldn’t be able to sell a single item or that no one would like anything. I am relieved and so very thankful to say that my first craft fair was a success. I am very much looking forward to participating in many more, that is right after I restock my inventory!

I did much better than I anticipated. There is a glimmer of hope that I could quite possibly continue to do what I do… and, wait for it, make a living off of doing what I love doing the most: making.

Here are some pictures from my table. I hope you enjoy! I have some items left, so if you are looking for Christmas gifts, search no further! Feel free to contact me!